Pipe still furnace and method of heating hydrocarbons



Nov. 12, 1940. D G, BRANDTl y2,221,469

PIPE STILL FURNACE AND METHODV oF-HEATNG HYDROCARBONS Filed March 18. 1959 2 sheets-sheet 1 /1 [Hun a INVENTOR 'i DAV/D e. ,BRANDT ATTORNEY Nov. 12, 1940. D, Q BRANDT Y 2221.469

PIPE STILL FURNACE AND METHOD OF' HEATING HYDROCARBONS Filed March 18, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 OQOOOO 2] ATTORNEY.

Patented Nov. 12, 1940 PATEN PIPE STILL FURNACE. METHOD OF HEATING HYDROUARBONS `Dawn G. Brandt, Westneld, N. J.

OFFICE assigner to Power Patents Company, Hillside, N. J., a corporation of Maine Application March 18 `9 claims.

ents in pipe More parular heater acked,` con- This invention relates to improvem still furnaces andmethod of heating. `ticularly the invention relates to a tub for heating hydrocarbons to be cr ,3; `verted or distilled, and to arnethodV of operating a pipe still heater tomore effectively heat hydrocarbons for such purposes. Considerable improvement hasbeen made in the provision of suitable pipe still `furnaces for ,1g heating hydrocarbons and in the control of `heating operationsbut considerable difculty is still encountered in thedirectapplication ofradiant heat to tubes through which hydrocarbons are conducted. The primary aim of the present invention is to provide an improvement on prescnt types of pipe still furnaces and their method of operation. Y

The salient object of the invention is to provide an improved pipe still furnace in which the tubes in the radiant heating section are supplied with radiant heat in a sition with respect to theradiantheating means. `Another object of the invention is to provide "an improved methodof heating or operation `of a 25 pipe still furnace which will permit thefcontrol of `conditions in the radiantsectionjof the furnace in accordance with certain specific objects to be accomplished. l y o In accordance with these and other objects 30 which will be apparent from a detailed description of the invention, the improved pipe still furnace comprises one 'or lmore radiant heating chambers of relatively great length compared with their width, heating tubes mounted on the 35sidewalls of the chamber, a ring pit opening into the bottom of eachradiant heating chamber` and extending substantially the entire length thereof, a row of burners in the bottom ofthe ringpit, and means for recirculating iluegasfrorn 40 the furnace, back into the radiant heating chambers and for distributing it over the tubes mounted along the side walls of the chambers.` The improvements of the. c present inventionnalso `include certain features of operation in. which the 45 temperature Vin different sections alongthe radiant heating chambers are` controlled `individually by `regulating the l proportion of "recirculated flue gas introducedinto `various sectionshof the radiant heating chambers.4 The radiant heat- 50 ing may also be controlled along-the heating chambers by regulating the supply of`combustilble material to different sections of discharging into the combustion pits;l

other features, objects and advantagesofthe *'55 improved pipe stillheaterandinethod'of heating,"

ccordance with their pothe burners l 1939, seiialno. 262,627

(Cl. 19H-116) of the present inv skilled in the ar tailed descriptio with the accom n ther panying Fig. 1 is` a broken longitudinal vertical sec-` tional view of the impro taken on the lines I-I ention,wil1 be apparent to those t from the following more deeof taken in connection drawings in which:

ved -pipe still furnace f Fig. 2.

Fig. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional View of the improved pipe still furn ship of the heating chamb the various tube banks:

ace showing the relation- I ers and positions of the line 4--4 of Fig. 2

recirculation passagewa I Fig. 5 is an enlarged invention comprises a .L posed V.beams of outside supportingwalls secured to steel and inside refractory brick lining. Referan ys sectional view of a pord showing` the flue gas 15 t1on `of the burner arrangement shown in Fig. 2.

The improved 4pipe still furnace of the presentIk masonry structure com-i" f'ring to Fig. 2, the improvedfurnace comprises Vone or more radiant heating chambers -2. vIn them `:present instance 'two such chambers are provided- `and the furnace made symmetrical. These heatling chambers 2 are rela tively long narrow chambers provided with an inside row of wall heating -tubes and an outside row of wall heating tubes 6, used for theheating of hydrocarbons. The

whole furnace is provided with `one or more rows -of roof heatingl tubes 8 under the entire roof o `are supported in metal tub ports as shown.

` The wall and roof tube ing chamber 2 are su from a long ring pit I `which preferably extend f the furnace. All tubes e brackets or sung,

sof each radiant heat-` pplied with radiant heat 0 which Iextends substan- Atially the full length of the heating chamber.IH

VThese pits are lined with high temperaturerefractory material and are preferably constructed lwith upwardly diver -be made in step C smooth slope.

depth, and the walls I2 Vunits I4 which are pr tions as shown in Fi have the structure sh combustion is supplied o Each burner section burner openings 2`0 int through the openings.

own i plied to the burners throu injected, which in turn i ging side walls I2 which may -like fashion as shown or with a The pits I0 are of substantial,l

converge down to burnerf eferably made up in sec- 4, thev burners of which n Fig. 5. l Fuel is supgh pipes I6, and air form to the passageway below comprises a plurality vof ofwhich the fluid `fuel is nduces la fiow of airW o In each of the'burneriss f 70 bers 2.

sections there is also a plurality of openings 22 for the admission of secondary air to the space Aabove thesection. The structure of the burner units I4 is shown more in detail inthe broken 5k sectional view of Fig. 5, in which the burner unit is shown as comprising'a steel supporting plate I5 containing the proper holes corresponding to the openings 25. The lower portion ofv the openings each Acomprises a `short flaring tubular section l0 of cast iron Il set n-the holes in the steel plate I5. The burner units are then formed by filling Vin around the cast iron sections I'I with plastic refractory material to form the flaring outer portion of the openings 20. The whole unit on the 15 plate I5 which may be from 4to 8 feet in length is cast, dried, and fired. T'he fluid fuel and air is supplied to the lower portion of the openings 2D from the fuel pipe I6, by-means of branch pipes I9 which terminate in burner tips 2l, which are 20 in turn provided with braces 23 for positioning l `the burner tips with respectto the openings 2i). The jetting of the uid fuel through the burner tipsinduces a flow of `air around V the braces 2,3 and into the openingsZ. As combustion takes place in the pits Ill, the combustion gases expand into-the increasing cross-sectional area of the burner pits. Thediverging walls I2 (in the direction of flow ofthe gases) permit the expansion of the gases during combustion without substantially lincreasing their Velocity.

. The high temperature combustion in the burner pits Il)` heats the walls I2 to extremely high` temperatures, so Vthat `they provide the radiant heating surfaces whichv reflect Vonto the tubes of the banks 4, and. The ,walls of the combustion y pits are so arranged that the Wall tubes 4 and 6 `closest tothe pit are exposed to a smaller area of the radiant wal1s- I2than are the tubes at greater distances` from the pit. This arrange- 40,ment prevents overheating of the tubes close to lthe combustion pit andat the same time provides adequate radiant heating surface for the tubes at greaterdistances from the pit.` 4The radiant surfaces may be accurately arranged so that all tubes `will be-heated to approximatelythe same degree. i

The combustion 'gases discharged from the pit IU now up through the radiant heating chambers Zand over bridge walls 24 into a convection heating chamber 25 in which are mounted tube banks 28 and 35, and supported by spaced tube sheets 3|; A considerable part of the heat in the combustion gases is removed by the tube banks 28 vand 30, after which the gases then ,flow through 'the end discharge ducts 32 into a passageway 34 (Fig. ,4), from which they pass to a stack 36 or y to a recirculation flue gas fan 38, or both. The ducts 32 are provi-ded with control dampers 4D which may be operated by handles `4.2 to control v the proportion of flue gases discharged through veach duct. n

An important feature of the present invention isthe recirculation of ue gases back into the radiant heating chambers to aid in controlling (i5-the heating operation. f The gases to be recirculated are .picked up by the fan 38 which is operated by a` motor 44, (Fig. 4) and conducted through a main passagewayV 46 into distribution headers48 for each of the radiant heating cham- From each of the headers 48 the recirculated flue gases are passed to distribution ducts on each side of the burner pits and beneath the wall tubes 4 and 5. `As shown for examplein Fig. 3,. the ue gases arci conducted from `the 75.header 48 throughl separate lpassageways .50, 52

'returned tothe chamber may beintroduced to n) and 54 which lead respectively to the front, middle and far end sections of the furnace. The proportion of flue gas introduced into each of these passages is controlled by a damper 56. The flue gas introduced through passageways 55, 52 and 54 are distributed directly under the wall tubes through openings between the re brick 58 which are mounted in spaced relation directly `below the rows of wall tubes 4 and 5, on each side of the chambers 2. The dampers 56, for conl0 trolling the supply of recirculated flue gas to both sets of passages 5D, 52 and 54 for each radi- -ant heating chamber, may, if desired, be operated together by handles 60, as shown in Fig. 4. The -dampers 56 maybe operated individually to l5 effect any desired control.

Instead of dividing the radiant heating charnber lengthwise into three sections with respect to the return of flue gases, it may be divided into any desired number of sections, each pro- 20 vided with individual control. The structure as shown provides for the control of the recirculated flue gas introduced into any section of each radiant heating chamber by suitable manipulation of the dampers 56. Forexample, all of the flue 2 gases returned to .one of the radiant heating chambersmay be introduced through the opposite passageways 54, or dampers 55 may be adjusted to exactly proportion the return of flue gas to the whole length lof the heating chamber 30 through the passages 5D, 52 and 54, which would be impossible if the furnace were not divided into sections for control;

The burners I4 mounted in the bottom of the combustion pits are preferably operated in sec- 35V tions coresponding to the sectionsof control pro-v vided for the return of ue gases, so that, as shown in Fig. 4, burner sections 66, 6B and` 'I0 are provided foreach combustion pit. These sections are preferably supplied with' fluid fuel, such asm combustiblegas orv oil, under separateV control, so that the heating in any given section of the furnace may be increased or decreased at will, de-v pending on the result desired to beaccomplished.

In heatingVr the tubesA 4 and 6 in eitherheating 14.5 chamber 2, the burner sections may be operated'` for example by supplying most of the fuel to the section BI and only moderately firing the burner sections 68 and 10. In suchia case, the nue gas ther greatest extent through the passageways 5I! for that 'chamber by controllingthe dampers 5t thereto. This will provideadequate protection for the portionsof the vtubes opposite the burner section 66. The heating in this particular cham- 55 ber maybe further controlled by closingrthe flue gas outlet 32 to the vleft in Fig. 4, Yso that most of the ue gas is discharged from the opposite end of the furnace. This will cause a ow of combustiongases from left to right in the radiant 60 heating chamber and supply more heating gases to the right sections ofthe convection heating chamber 2Ii'cont'aining tube banks 28 and 30.

Various other modifications may-be made in the operation of .the burners and nue gas return passages to accomplish any desiredresult or effect, and one of the radiant heating chambers 2 may be operated Vto supply considerably more heat than the other if desired or'necessary, in carrying out a particular operation. The banks of heating Atubes mounted in the radiant heating chambers and convection chamber may be connected in various yways to accom-V Vmodate any kind of distillation, cracking, or cony lversion operation: For example, fa `relatively V `in the left radiant heating chamber 2.

cool hydrocarbon to be-heated may be passedrst through the tube bank `3i] countercurrent to the combustion` gases, then divided in two streams,

half ofthe roof tubes 8, after which the streams arecompined and passed through the convection `tube bank 28.

The furnace may be utilized for heating two separate streams of hydrocarbons, for example, a stream of gas oil and a stream of butane.

One of these streams may be passed through `.the

convection bank 33, the wall `tubes 4 and 6, and through half of the roof tubes 8 of `the right radiant heating chamber (Fig. 2) While the other stream of hydrocarbon is heated in the left radi-` ant chamber by being conducted through the Wall tubes and 6, and the other half of the roof tubes 3. If desired, `the two streams may be heated to different temperatures and then com-` bined and conducted through the convection tube bank 28.

In using the furnace to heat a single hydrocarbon or mixture, the hydrocarbon may be passed in seriesthrough` tube banks 39, 28, roof tubes 8,

wall tubes 6 and d of the right radiant heatingL chamber, and then through wallv tubes 4 and 6 The control and manipulation of the burner sections for the different radiant heating chambers 2 will depend-to a considerable extent upon the cycle by which `the hydrocarbon passes through the furnace. This `is also true with respect to the control of the flue gas recirculated'through the furnace sections. Furthermore, the degree of protection required for `the different wall tubes will depend upon the character of the hydrocarbon passed through these tubes and the temperatures at which it is heated therein.

Various modifications may be made in the furnace, and its operation, Without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the accompanying claims.l

Having thus described the invention in its preferred form, what is claimed as new is:

l.. `In a pipe still heater for heating hydrocarbons, the improvement which comprises a radiant heating chamber having a relatively greater length than width, tubes for heating hydrocarbons mounted in substantially horizontal position along the side walls of said chamber, a ring pit opening into the bottom of said chamber and extending substantially the entire length thereof, said pit being relatively deep and having diverging side walls of relatively great area adapted when highly heated to reflect and radiate heat directly onto said tubes, a row of burners in the bottom of `said pit extending substantially the `entire length thereof, and said pit walls being `arranged in such a way that the lowermost tubes in the chamber are exposed to radiation from a smaller pit wall area than the tubes mounted at higher positions in the chamber.

` 2.,In a pipe still furnace for heating hydrocarbons which includes a radiant heating chamber of relatively great length compared to its width, and in which tubes for the passage of hydrocarbons are mounted in substantiallyhorizontal position on the side 'walls of said chamber, the `improvement which comprises a relatively de-ep firing pit opening into the bottom of said `chamber and extending substantially the entire 75 length thereof, the side walls of said pit being of relatively great area' and when highly heated adapted to radiate heat onto said tubes, said pit walls `being arranged in such away that the tubes nearest the pit are exposed to radiationfrom a smallerpitl wall area than the tubes mounted at greater distances from the pit, a row of burners mounted in the bottom of said pit and extending substantially `the entire length thereof, andy means for` passing relatively cool combustion gases upwardly along the entire side Walls of said chamber over said tubes to partially blanket the tubes against contact with hot combustion gases from said pit.

3. In `a pipe` still furnace for heating hydro-1` carbons which includes a radiantheatingI cham` ber `of relatively great length compared to its width, and in which tubes for the passage of hy` drocarbons are mounted on the side walls of said chamber, the improvement` which comprises a rrelatively deep firing pit opening into thebottom of said chamber and extending substantially the entire length thereof, a row of burners extend-` ing `along the bottom of said pit adapted to heat th-e Walls of the pit to incandescence,` each side wall of said pit being adapted to radiate heat to the tubes mounted on the opposite chamber` wall, and said pit walls being arranged in such a way that the tubes nearest the pit are exposed to` radiation from a smaller pit wall area than thev tubes mounted at greater distances from the pit.

4. In a pipe still furnace for heating hydrocarbons which includes a radiant heating chamber of relatively great length compared to its width, and in which tubes for the passage of hydrocarbons are mounted on the side walls of said chamber, the improvementlwhich comprises, means along each side of said chamber for distributing recirculated combustion gases over the tubes mounted on said side Walls, a radiant'ring pit opening into the bottom of said chamber between said means and extending substantially the entire length of said chamber, said pit including diverging refractory side walls each adapted t0 radiate heat onto the tubes mounted on the opposite side Wall of said chamber.

5.In -a pipe still furnace for heating` hydrocarbons which includes a radiant heating chamber of relatively great length compared to its Width, and in which tubes for the passage of hydrocarbons are mounted on the side walls of said chamber, the improvement which comprises va relatively deep ring pit opening into the bottom of said chamber and extending substantially the entire length thereof, the side walls of said pit being adapted to radiate heat onto said tubes, a row of burners mounted in the bottom of said pitand extending substantiallythe entire length thereof, and means for passing relatively Icool combustion gases upwardly along the entire side walls of said chamber over said tubes to partially blanket the tubes `against contact with h ot combustion gases from said pit, said means l including a fan for drawing said gases from the outlet of said furnace, sectional passages below said side walls for different longitudinal portions of said furnace, and control means for controlling the distribution of said relatively cool combustion gases to said sections.

6. A pipe still furnace as dened by claim 4 in which said means along each side of said chamber for distributing recirculated combustion gases over the `tubes mounted on said side walls includes a separately-controlled conduit for distributing said gases to definite longitudinal sections along each side of said chamber, burner sections in the bottom of said firing pit corresponding in position to said denite sections for distribution of recirculated combustion gases, and

means for separately controlling said burner secbustion gas supplying and distributing means and extending substantially the entire length of said chamber, said pit including divergng refractory side Walls each adapted to radiate heat onto the tubes'mountecl on the opposite side Walls of said chamber, and longitudinal burner sections mounted in the bottom of said pit and corresponding in length and position to approximately the separate longitudinal sections for the distribution of recirculated combustion gases to said chamber.

tion of flue gases discharged from said furnace through said ue gas outlet, whereby the flue gases produced in said furnace may be shifted longitudinally in said furnace to correlate the control exercised on said burner sections and the sections for distribution of recirculated combustion gases.

9. In a pipe still heater for heating hydrocarbons, the improvement which comprises a radiant heating chamber having a relatively greater length than Width, tubes for heatingl hydrocarbons mounted along the side Walls of said chamber, a ring pit opening into the bottom of said chamberl and extending substantially the entire length thereof, said pit being relatively deep and having .diverging side Walls adapted to reflect directly onto said tubes, separately controlled relatively long burner sections mounted in longitudinal series in the bottom of said pit and extending substantially the entire length thereof, a ue gas outletfrom each end of said furnace, and means for controlling the proportion of rflue gases discharged from said furnace through said ,iiue gas outlets.

DAVID G. BRANDT. 

